"An infinite cosmos bursting with mesmerizing darkness. He stares back at me, but only for a second. For that second, the whole world stops, ceasing to exist..."
Since receiving the ARC of this book for review, I binged the entire book in one night, then proceeded to read it twice more, just to capture every moment, every detail, and every little thing in between. It took me a long time to decide my favorite quotes from this book - there are many (please note that this author is one of the only author's for whom I will ever highlight a quote on my kindle for. the quotes are THAT good). Finally, I read other books, and came back to read this once more before writing my review.
I first read the original version of this story on wattpad while it was still being written (I believe I read INYTHM first when it was almost finished on wattpad, so I've been following Ace and Calla for some time now). The published version? WOW. I was kind of nervous because I absolutely loved the Wattpad version, but the author did not disappoint with the published version. In fact, it is much better and much more well written than what I recall the Wattpad version to be. There are some changes, but all of them were great! It's WAAAAAY steamier (it's so hot that my A/C HAD to be on while I was reading this book!). Some of those steamy scenes are in Ace's POV, which makes it even more HOT. And in general, there are major changes to this plot that require this book to be read over the wattpad version (especially if you are going to read the upcoming 3rd book, which you will read...because it's going to be SOOO good).
I feel emotionally attached to Calla and Ace. I am sure many others are as well, but Genicious did a great job at showing their emotions and really making the reader feel those emotions as well. Calla and Ace both have changed a lot in the five years between INYTHM/INYTLM, and it's very evident why once you read the book. That being said, I felt like Calla was TOO understanding at times, and Ace was TOO demanding of her. BUT, this is a romance (somewhat dark but not really, and very adult), and that is expected in romance novels - especially when being published as things move fast). PLUS, they do have a huge chunk of history, much of which makes a ton of more sense once you read this book in its entirety.
As previously mentioned, there is a HUGE part of this book that will leave you wanting more. I simply cannot wait for book 3 and reading more of Ace and Calla's journey. It was totally not what I expected (at all, and trust me when I say that I had LITERALLY written down a list of possibilities as soon as the author announced that the ending of the book was going to change months ago!) and WHEWWW, I'm still on edge about it.
Overall, this is one of the best books I have read this year. I was looking forward to it for so long and I am so glad that the author chose me to receive an ARC copy of it. Ace and Calla will forever hold a special place in my heart, and I'm glad that I get one more book to enjoy them in the future.
Genicious - thanks for sharing their story with us. You've officially become the queen of cliffhangers, and as much as I want to scream at you for it, I can't! I typically HATE it when books end on cliffhangers, but you've blessed my life with Ace and Calla, and I guess that's more than enough for me to continue to read your work. I'm looking forward to whatever you have in store for us next (both on Wattpad/published work!).